Of Monkeys and Men
by tophetangel
Summary: COMPLETE. Shorter Ficlet, kind of case based, How someone discovers the secret love of GSR. Reviews are love!
1. Chapter 1  Poo on Greg's Shoe

**A/N -** Starting a new story, right now it's very case based, focus on team interaction, will eventually be GSR. I type these up quickly, please excuse any typos!

**Disclaimer **- You know the deal, if I owned it, I would not be here.

* * *

Sara sat dusting the edges of the broken glass, the smell of the enclosure starting to get to her.

"Who knew monkeys had fingerprints?" Greg called from the inside.

"They even have distinct _tail_ prints." Grissom answered back.

"Of course you would know that." Greg quipped back.

"But this particular species does not have a tail right?" Sara asked.

"Right." Grissom smiled. "This is the last family of Barbary apes in the United States, and despite the name, they are macaques, a monkey - not an ape"

"Is there anything you _don't_ know?" Greg sighed.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I don't know why you are standing in that feces, it could be evidence." Grissom quickly answered back.

"Ahhh, shi... ugh! I have monkey poo on my shoes!" Greg yelled as he violently shook his foot.

Sara laughed. "Be careful with that _evidence_ Sanders" She was now laughing so hard, she was finding it hard to catch her breath.

Grissom smiled as he turned to find Brass, Sara's laugh still have him butterflies in his stomach.

* * *

"Ok, so you remove the monkeys from the enclosure at night?" Brass was questioning a tall, very slender looking man, with small round glasses.

"Right, we call the troop in at night, there is a door to the back of the enclosure, they go in and out that way."

"How does staff get down to that room?" Grissom asked he came to stand next to Jim.

"Through this door and down the hall, we have entrances to all of the animal's enclosures." The man answered.

"Will you take me down there?" Grissom asked politely.

"Sure. The rest of the troop has been moved to the veterinary building, they are all very upset, just like we are." The man sniffled.

Brass shot Grissom a confused look.

"Monkeys meant a lot to you eh?" Brass' dry sense of humor did not go over well with the man in the glasses.

"We are here all day, we have bonds with our animals, we are there when they are born, we cry when they pass, they become a part of our family." The man said, starting to look quite upset.

"Were you here last night?" Grissom questioned as they started down the hallway.

"Yes, we close at 5. I called the troop in at 6, fed them dinner, and clocked out around 7:30."

"What was on the menu last night?" Grissom questioned.

"Last night was select fruit, roots, and mealworms. We are dedicated to providing all of our animals with a balanced, natural diet"

"I'm sorry sir; I didn't ask your name."

"Frank. Franklin Thule."

"I'm Gil Grissom; I'm with the crime lab"

"I hope you find them, and soon. I am just sick knowing they're missing."

"I understand Frank; we're going to do everything we can to find them." Grissom assured him, afraid they may find the monkeys the same way they had found the bear from the same zoo a few years before.

Frank opened the door to the small concrete room. "This is it, be prepare food in the kitchen and bring it down here on a cart. We slide it to the troop through these openings."

It reminded Brass of the jail... a slot big enough to get a tray of food in and out, the rest - steel bars.

"You don't interact directly with the monkeys then?" Gil questioned.

"Not unless they need veterinary care. They are still wild animals, we try to keep human interaction to a minimum" Frank explained. "But they still know me, and I know all of them. They all have distinct personalities. Through the bars we still form a bond."

Grissom nodded. "We're going to have to process this room, and see the other members of the troop."

"Ok. I will be with them in the veterinary building until you are finished." Frank nodded at Gil as he turned to leave; he paused to give Jim a dirty look.

When Frank was out of sight, Brass whistled. "Whoa, monkey boy means business."

"Would you be using that tone that if it were his children that were missing?" Grissom asked.

"You know I wouldn't Gil." Brass huffed.

"These animals are like his children, and they are living breathing creatures. This _is_ a serious case." Gil said as he started to process the room.

"Are we going to need more help?" Brass asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, call Nick." Gil called over his shoulder as he made his way to the back of the enclosure.

* * *

"I cannot believe I stepped in poo!!!" Greg yelled as he switched his shoes at the back of his Denali.

"If that is the worst thing you step in on this job, be thankful" Sara giggled as she took another bite of her granola bar.

"I don't even want to know what you've stepped in..." Greg sighed as he bent down to tie his shoes.

Sara giggled and waved to Nick as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Hey guys!" Nick called as he retrieved his case from his backseat.

"Hey!" Sara called out as she snapped open a bottle of water. "We're just taking a little break, getting fresh air."

"It stinks in there." Greg huffed.

"Especially when you step in fecal matter" Sara laughed.

"Did you step in doody Sanders?" Nick asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes, I stepped in _doody_." Greg muttered.

Nick laughed as Sara led him back to the enclosure.


	2. Chapter 2  Printing Primates

**A/N** - I try and update as often as I can, please review if you like it! I am also always open to suggestions!

* * *

"Hey Boss" Nick smiled as he walked into the concrete room.

"Hi Nick. Greg and Sara have the public enclosure, they are nearly done, then we'll start the perimeter. We'll need you there."

"What do we know?" Nick asked as he put his case down and clicked on his flashlight.

"We have two missing Barbary Apes. A female and a male. Zoologist called them into this enclosure last night, fed them, clocked out at approximately 7:30. Main gate was locked by the last employee at 8pm, alarms sounded at 11:43pm." Grissom rattled of the details as Nick started wandering around the cage.

"Why would anyone want to steal two apes?" Nick questioned as he carefully stepped over a pile of feces.

"They are actually monkeys. But they have no tails, which is why they likely got the name 'APE'. At this point, my theory involves the pet trade. Which would be why they chose a male and a female." Grissom told him.

"Makes sense. Do you think they knew which was which, or did they doddle turning monkeys over trying to find a mating pair?"

"I believe they knew, when PD arrived at 11:55 the park was already empty."

"How did they get two full grown monkeys to go peacefully?" Nick wondered out loud.

"Could be someone they trusted, or..." Grissom bent over, and turned to his colleague, revealing a dart, complete with feathers. "Or they were drugged."

Nick held out an evidence bag for Grissom to deposit the dart. "Hopefully we get some prints" Nick sighed as he sealed the bag.

"Yeah, and you have the task of collecting prints from a troop of Barbary Apes" Grissom grinned.

"Printing the monkeys?? You're serious?" Nick shot Grissom his 'look'.

"Yes, each monkey has its own set of prints. You will need to print their toes as well." Grissom told him as turned and went back to his scene. "Brass can direct you to the veterinary building."

"You've got to be kidding" Nick sighed as he went to find Jim.

* * *

"I have to print the monkeys!" Nick exclaimed as he found Sara, Greg, and Brass in the public enclosure.

"Ha!" Greg laughed. "I hope they doody on you."

"What was that?" Nick leaned over and put his face right into Greg's.

"Monkey doodle is not a laughing matter." Greg said straightening up.

Sara lost it. She headed out of the enclosure, holding her stomach she was laughing so hard.

"What are we? Five??" Greg shouted after her.

"I'll take you to the monkey man" Brass sighed as he and Nick headed out to get prints. They passed Sara outside, sitting on a bench, doubled over.

"Doodle!" She giggled as they walked past. Nick swore he heard her snort a little.

Brass looked over his shoulder. "It's nice to Sara laugh like that."

"Even if it is about _doodle_." Nick laughed as they made their way into the veterinary building.

Nick stared at the cages; the very un-amused monkeys stared back at him.

"How the hell am I going to do this?" He whispered to himself.

"Maybe I can be of some help"

Nick turned to see a man clad in khaki, holding several cups and a tray of toys.

"Nick Stokes, Las Vegas crime lab" He said as he held out his hand.

"Franklin Thule. I am in charge of the Barbary apes and the chimpanzee here" The man smiled. "If I put a little juice in the glass, they will drink it and hand it right back."

"Right on!" Nick smiled "And how can I get toe prints?"

"I hand them the toy, they hold it with their feet until they get a Popsicle"

"They can eat popsicles?" Nick questioned.

"Well its apple juice frozen in a dixie cup, we stick a work inside."

"Ugh" Nick cringed.

"They like it!" Frank laughed as he hauled out a try of frozen bug-sickles.

It took only an hour to collect finger and toe prints from the family of monkeys. Nick thanked the zoologist and headed back to find his team also wrapping up. He held up his evidence bags.

"That's right! Who's the man?" He boasted.

"Wow Nick, impressive!" Sara nodded.

"Yeah Yeah..." Greg grunted as he snapped his case shut.

"Let's head back and get this processed. If they are in the pet trade, the monkeys may already be in Arizona" Grissom said, glancing at the sun peaking over the hills.


	3. Chapter 3  It's Monkey

**A/N** - Again, be on the look out for those rogue typos! I have never liked writing smut, so I didn't... but we get a little more GSR in this installment.

**Disclaimer** - Grissom is mine!!! Ok, my cat Grissom is mine, everything else is not...

* * *

Mandy's mouth dropped open as Nick piled his collection of prints on the table.

"Let me guess, hotel elevator?" She sighed.

"No, actually these are finger prints here..." He pointed to the pile, and then shook the bag in his hand. "These are toe prints. All numbered, each number represents a different monkey."

Mandy peered over her glasses. "Monkey?"

"Two Barbary Apes were stolen from the Las Vegas Zoo. We believe they were drugged, we found a dart in the enclosure. Sara is dusting it for prints, and we will need to rule out the monkeys."

"As suspects?" Mandy teased.

"Very funny. Any one of them could have touched or moved the dart, so we have to eliminate all the monkey prints and see if the thief left a print of his own." Nick smiled.

"But check out number 11, Bo Bo looked suspicious." He winked as he turned to leave.

"You owe me!" Mandy called after him.

"I ain't singing to you again!" She heard him yell from down the hall.

Mandy stared at the tiny prints. "They couldn't tell by size which print was the suspects? It isn't like an infant did it." She sighed as she started to scan the prints.

Sara walked into Grissom's office and shut the door behind her.

"We can't do that before shift anymore."

"Do what?" Grissom was clueless as he looked up from his photos.

"You know what!" Sara whispered.

"Oh. OH! _That_." He smiled

"I was in such a good mood... I acted like an idiot at the scene."

Grissom smiled as he remembering her laughing, he loved the way she laughed.

"Grissom! I laughed so hard I almost cried. All because Greg said _monkey doodle_."

This time Grissom laughed. He got up and came around to the front of his desk.

"Sara, it's ok to be to be in a good mood and laugh once in a while."

"I understand and appreciate that, but, that needs to be reserved for home, or they're going to start asking questions."

"Sara, it'll be fine. No one is going to suspect anything because you let yourself go a bit for one night."

"You better be right, because I'm a horrible liar when I am put on the spot." She smiled.

"Hey Gris!" Catherine swung open the office door. "Oh! Sorry!"

"It's ok, we're going over the photos from the scene at the zoo." Grissom stated, picking up a picture of the enclosure.

"I heard about that, stolen monkeys are going to make great headlines today" Catherine smiled. She knew media equaled the sheriff giving Grissom hell until the case was solved.

"Any leads?"

"Not right now, but everything is still being processed." Grissom sighed.

"Actually I'm going to head down to the evidence room, and help Greg log stuff in for a while." Sara smiled at Catherine as she passed her on the way out.

"What can I do for you Catherine?"

"Just handing in a file, we solved the 419 on Sahara. Thank god for traffic cameras!"

Grissom simply nodded as he continued looking at the photos.

"What's with Sara?" Catherine questioned after a few moments of silence.

"What do you mean?" Grissom slipped of his glasses, doing his best to look overly concerned. Leave it to Catherine to prove him wrong with Sara.

"I overheard Greg telling Nicky she was acting strange at the crime scene."

"Oh!" He sat back in his chair, trying to feign relief. "She was apologizing for that, said something about having too many espressos and visiting an oxygen bar today" He turned his gaze back to the stack of pictures.

"Well espresso would do it. Have you ever been to one of those oxygen stands? They have them all over Freemont Street."

"No, I believe it's a waste of money." Grissom grumbled.

"You really do feel good after you leave, and they add 'flavors' to the oxygen, kind of like aroma therapy."

"What does 'pina colada' do? Make you feel relaxed?" Grissom realized his mistake as soon as it tumbled out of his mouth.

"I thought you had never been to one" Catherine smiled.

He smiled back. "I said I haven't _been_ to one. That doesn't mean I have never _seen_ one before."

Catherine nodded and got up to leave. He thought he'd recovered quite well. He never wanted anyone to know that he and Sara had been sitting at one of those booths just a week before. He _did_ think they were a waste of money, but he had a hard time telling Sara 'No' when just doing it could make her happy.

"Good luck with the monkey snatcher" Catherine called out as she exited his office.

"No luck with the dart" Sara said as Grissom walked into the evidence room. "All the prints came back to 3 different female monkeys."

"What else do we have?" Grissom questioned as he eyed up the evidence.

"Not much." Nick chimed in. "All the prints from the dart and from the glass around the enclosure belong to the monkeys."

"Prints on the door handles of the building all came back to staff." Sara added.

"Inside job?" Grissom questioned.

"I'm starting to think so." Nick sighed. "It's just like the bear. Zookeeper wants to make some money on the side, and uses the animals to do it."

"Well, we are going to have to go back and probe a little deeper with the staff." Grissom shrugged. "And we're going to have to do it next shift. Ecklie was sure to remind me that it's the end of the month and we're all dangerously close to over-time."

"Ahh, going home on time. How I love the end of the month!" Nick sighed as he began to box all the bagged evidence.

Grissom pulled into the garage a few minutes before Sara did. He always left a few minutes before she did. Occasionally Sara would even go as far as to take a different route home.

Bruno sniffed at Grissom when he greeted him in the kitchen.

"Its monkey" He bent down and told the dog as he scratched his head. He opened the door to the backyard and let Bruno out.

"I smell awful" Sara grunted as she came in the door. "I call the shower"

"I could join you, you know" Grissom smiled as he pulled her into a hug. "Or aren't we allowed to do that _after_ shift either?"

Sara reached up and gave him a light kiss.

"I'm taking a shower, you can make the coffee" She smiled as she slung her bag over the back of a chair.

The sound of running water filled the house as Sara got into the shower. Grissom went about the morning routine. He fed the dog, washed his hands and made a pot of coffee. He was frying eggs when Sara came down, water drops still fresh on her skin.

"Breakfast?" Grissom smiled as he slid the eggs onto a plate.

"Love some!" She smiled as she sat at the table.

"That was an interesting night wasn't it?" Grissom said between bites.

"I feel like a complete idiot." Sara sighed.

Grissom decided not to tell her Catherine's question, he wanted her to be in a good mood. He hated going to sleep next to an upset Sara.

"Honey, it's alright. It was nice to hear you laugh."

"That's all fine and well, but I cannot act that way at a crime scene. It's unprofessional." She said stiffening up in her seat.

"I think you're very professional." Grissom stated as he opened the morning paper.

Sara sipped her juice and decided to leave well enough alone, this was something they wouldn't be seeing eye to eye on.

After breakfast Grissom went up to take his shower, and Sara rinsed the dishes. She wiped her hands dry on the towel that hung from the fridge and went up stairs, Bruno on her heels.

She slid into the bathroom, and peeked her head into the shower.

"For the record...we are allowed to do that after shift." She smiled.

Grissom pulled her in, pajamas and all, just to hear her giggle again.


	4. Chapter 4  Back to the Zoo

**A/N** - Ok, so I dont know about this chapter, its more of a 'moving the story along' kind of chapter, nothing too exciting. I worked on it at home on my days of... maybe I just write better at 2am in a hospital break room... reviews help!

* * *

Sara awoke that evening with a pounding headache. It took her a second to realize that a construction crew was directly outside their window, finally fixing the broken road that led to their home.

She got up and wandered into the bathroom to get a glass of water and an aspirin.

"Good morning" Grissom whispered as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Good afternoon." Sara corrected him with a kiss.

After a quick walk with Bruno and a light dinner, they got into their respective cars. When they came to the stop sign, Sara went left, Grissom right.

Sara pulled into the parking lot as Greg was getting out his car.

"Hey! Greg!" Sara called out from her open window and she shifted into park. Greg started over as she rolled up the window and pulled the keys out of the ignition.

"Hey" Sara smiled as she slammed the car door "Look, I am sorry about yesterday, I shouldn't have teased you like that. I was in a weird mood, I'm sorry."

"I noticed!" Greg smiled back. "It's ok; I was in a bad mood before I even clocked in yesterday. But it was nice to see you laugh like that. We really don't have a job that brings on laughter a lot."

Sara nodded and they started walking inside.

Grissom pulled in and watched as Sara and Greg made their way into the building. He had always been aware of Greg's liking for Sara, but now that she was 'his', he felt a twinge of jealously as he watched them laugh and joke as they disappeared into the lab. He sat for a moment before getting out and heading into work himself.

They all gathered in the break room, waiting for assignments. Nick chomped on a powdered donut, Catherine sat eating a pear. The rest were sipping their coffee as Grissom came in.

"Sara and Nick, you will be heading back to the zoo with me, I talked to the curator this morning and the zoos entire staff will be meeting us there for statements. Catherine and Warrick, you take Greg to the 419 on Flamingo, two bodies, you'll need an extra set of hands." Grissom handed Catherine the slip containing the details on their case and motioned for Nick and Sara to follow him out.

"So we lose Greggo?" Nick questioned as the headed down the hallway.

"Like I said, Catherine and Warrick will need an extra set of hands on their case; and Greg seemed less than pleased with the zoo case, I did him a favor." Grissom shrugged as he paged through the file in his hand.

Nick wondered when Grissom had started handing out 'favors'.

"Ok, so we have a dart with no human prints, broken glass with no human prints, and every other print in the building came back to staff. When we get there, are we going to work this as though it were an inside job?" Sara asked as they climbed into Denali.

"At this point the evidence is pointing to someone who works at the zoo, it doesn't mean it wasn't an outside job, but listen carefully when taking statements, we need more clues." Grissom stated as he peered at her in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah because right now, we have nothing" Nick sighed as he clicked his seatbelt.

After what seemed like hours of talking to staff, Sara still felt like she still had nothing to go on. Everyone she had talked to had moved their animals indoors, fed them, and left before 8 p.m.

"I got nothing!" Nick sighed as he sat next to Sara.

"Same here." Sara groaned as glanced over at Grissom, still interviewing a few staff members. "Let's hope he gets something, or this case is going cold."

"There has to be something!" Nick said as he stood up and looked around. "No one is that good at stealing monkeys; they had to have left something."

Sara got up and followed Nick as he went outside. Nick stood in the moonlight, his hands on his hips.

"Ok, the alarm was set off by the busted lock on the front gate, on the other side of the park." Nick said as he turned to Sara. "They had to run all the way back here, somehow get into this building, break the glass on the enclosure, crawl down to the bottom and go in the door that connects the enclosures, tranquilize the right monkeys, and get them back out of the enclosure and out of the park in less than twelve minutes."

"It can be done, but it would be cutting it close." Sara said as she scanned the area, imagining a person running in, and then out, with two sleeping monkeys.

Grissom walked out to find Nick and Sara staring across the zoo. Sara turned around and smiled. "Please tell me _you_ got something."

"Nothing extraordinary" He shrugged.

"We didn't get anything either." Nick sighed.

Grissom's phone chirped in his pocket.

"Grissom"

"Hey boss"

Grissom grimaced a little as he heard Hodges on the other end.

"What did you get off the dart?"

"Nothing." Hodges grunted.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. No blood, no DNA, no poisons. It's a _dart_, as in 'I got a bulls eye' dart. Someone attached fake feathers with dental floss."

"Thanks Hodges."

"Sure thing boss, you know I was quite the..."

Grissom snapped his phone shut before he had to listen to Hodges drone on.

"Dart was clean." He sighed.

"You're kidding" Sara said, confused.

"Not kidding, no poison or tranquilizers, no blood. It was a game dart; the feathers were attached with _dental floss_."

"Dental floss?" Nick questioned.

Grissom sighed. "Dental floss" he muttered.

Sara wandered over by the side door of the enclosure, waving her flashlight over the pavement as she walked.

"I've got blood." She said, almost too softly for the guys to hear her.

"There was no blood here yesterday" Grissom said, perplexed. "Greg and I did this whole side of the building. There was **no** blood here."

They watched as Sara's flashlight followed the drops across the pavement.

"They go into that building" Nick said as he popped his case open and grabbed a swab.

As they got closer to the adjacent building a roar stopped them in their tracks.

"The African Lions." Sara muttered.

"How do you know it ain't the tigers?" Nick questioned.

"The roar of a lion is very distinct." Grissom told him as they approached the door.

"I'm going to go inside and see if I can catch the big cat guy to walk us through here." Nick said as he headed back to the building behind them.

Sara turned to face Grissom. "I think something happened to those monkeys and the apparent theft was a cover up"

"I'm beginning to think the same thing." Grissom muttered as he scanned over the blood drops again.

"This is John" Nick called out as he approached his colleagues, who were now bent over the blood drops. "He is in charge of the large cats here."

Grissom stood up and extended his hand. "Gil Grissom, Las Vegas Crime Lab, this is Sara Sidle."

"Pleasure to meet you both, despite the circumstances." John nodded at Sara.

"Well John as you can see, we have some blood drops heading into this building, we need you to take us through."

"Sure thing" John nodded as he fumbled with his keys. He unlocked the door and led the team down a concrete hallway.

As they walked, Sara noticed a few drops of blood to the side, but not nearly as much as they had seen outside. She stepped ahead of John and walked the entire length of the hallway.

"No blood past the first door." She concluded as she walked back.

"Those are the African lions." John said as he slid his key into the door.

There were two roars as they walked in.

"Settle down, settle down." John said in a soft voice. He walked over, and to the amazement and horror of the 3 CSIs behind him, he stuck his hand through the steel bars and feverishly scratched the male behind his ears. "No need to get all upset" John whispered as he reached his other hand through to pet the female next to him. The female extended her arm and pulled john closer to the cage.

"No, I'm not coming in right now" John smiled as he gently removed her giant paws from around his waist.

"You go in there?" Nick questioned.

"Yes, we all have a closeness with our animals, we do go in and interact with them."

"I was told by another employee that the zoo kept human/animal contact to a minimum." Grissom said turning to face John.

"No we regularly go in with them. Here!" John said as he walked to his desk and grabbed a picture. He handed to Grissom.

"This was last month."

Grissom looked at the picture, it was John in the outdoor enclosure, a lion on either side of him. John pointed to his desk. "There is me and the tigers, and me with the mountain lion."

Grissom walked over and studied the pictures.

"You have to have big... ahem, you have to be pretty comfortable to go in their enclosure like that." Nick smiled.

"They are raised by humans, when we are able to get close and interact with them, we can easily detect when they are sick or hurt. It gives us an edge on the veterinary side." John smiled back at Nick." Just this morning I found blood on her foot" He said pointing to the female lion. "I was able to quickly wash her foot, in other zoos they would have to sedate the animal, and any time you have to sedate or tranquilize an animal there is a risk of them having complications."

"Was she ok?" Sara asked from across the room where she was photographing a drop of blood.

"Yeah, no cuts. Just blood." John shrugged.

Grissom walked to the cage and flashed his flashlight around the enclosure. He stopped and motioned Nick over.

"What is that?" Nick asked as he came to stand next to Grissom.

"I can't be sure, but it looks like a patch of fur. Matches the coat of a Barbary Ape."

"What??" John rushed over. "Oh my god... you don't think..."

"If I give you gloves and a bag, do you think you could retrieve that for us?" Nick asked.

"Of, of course." John said as he took the gloves and bag Nick held out for him.

John quickly unlocked the door and slid inside, both lions flocking to his side. He carefully picked up the piece of fur and put it into the bag. He passed the bag to Nick and sat to scratch the lion's ears again.

"Does Frank interact with the primates like this?" Grissom asked as he watched the giant cats turn into butter as they had their heads scratched.

"Yes, all the time. He has to be careful with the chimp of course, adult chimps are moody and very strong. But he can wander through the Barbary troop as if he was one of them."

"Interesting." Sara muttered as she went back to swab her blood drop.


	5. Chapter 5 Bean

**A/N -** So I finally get around to the point of this story, I wanted to try and write a more case based story and thought this would be the one to try it out on. I've read many stories dealing with this subject, and thought I would do a longer story instead of a ficlet with it. Let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer -** I own nothing but the typos and grammar errors you may find!

* * *

"Frank went home" 

Grissom looked at the curator. "He went _home_?"

"Yeah, left about 10, maybe 15 minutes ago."

"Could you get him on the phone? We have additional questions we need to ask him" Nick asked as he glanced around the room, all of the other employees still there.

"We also need to get into his office." Sara said as she came to stand next to Grissom.

"Oh sure, this way." The curator led them down the concrete hallway, and opened the office door.

Sara set her case on the floor and walked around the room slowly, her flashlight illuminating the room. She scanned his desk, and tried all the drawers, but they were locked. She stepped over and tried to open the locker, it too was locked.

"Here, I have a master key." The curator stepped into the room and opened the locker.

Sara reached in and carefully picked up a pair of shoes. "Blood on the shoes." She said, turning to face Nick and Grissom.

"We need to get Mr. Thule back here." Grissom told the curator.

"Of course. You don't think he is behind this do you?"

"He is a person of interest." Nick stated and walked over to Sara, he held out a bag and Sara slid the shoes inside.

"I don't get it; by all accounts he loved his animals." Nick said. "Why kidnap or _kill _two of them?"

"Hopefully Mr. Thule can offer us some insight." Grissom sighed.

"If he comes back" Sara added.

After an hour and a half of collecting evidence from the office. The team was ready to go. After several attempts, no one was able to successfully get a hold of Mr. Thule. Grissom called Brass to put a BOLO out for Mr. Thule and his car.

"What now?" Nick asked

"We go back to the lab, run the evidence, and see what we get." Grissom shrugged.

The sun was starting to rise as they pulled into the lab parking lot. They had just enough time to log in the evidence and drop it off with the appropriate department before having to clock out.

"How's the theft at the zoo coming?"

Sara turned to see Greg coming into the locker room.

"Looking less and less like a theft" Sara said as she tied her shoes.

"Really? What is it looking like?" Greg asked as he popped his locker open.

"Mr. Thule is on the run, we found blood leading out of his building and into the big cat enclosure, blood on his work shoes, and blood and fur in the lion cage."

"Whoa! Monkey murder?" Greg asked.

Sara slammed her locker shut. "Something happened to those two monkeys _at_ that zoo." Sara sighed.

"Have a good day Greg" She smiled as she walked out of the room.

"You too!" He called after her.

* * *

Grissom walked into a quiet house. "Sara?!" 

"In the office! Can you let Bruno in and give him some food?" She called out from upstairs.

After feeding the dog, Grissom climbed the stairs to find Sara at the desk, her face illuminated by the computer screen.

"What are you doing sweetie?" He asked as he walked up behind her.

"Looking to see if there are any Barbary Apes out there in the pet trade."

"I thought we were going to start trying to leave work _at_ work" Grissom kissed her head.

"Look at this! You can buy a chimp for $60,000!" Her voice shook. Grissom wrapped his arms around her.

"This is sick." She whispered.

"Why don't we go out for breakfast sweetheart?" Grissom asked. He knew she was very compassionate about animal rights, and hated to see her that upset.

"Ok." She whispered as she clicked off the page.

She stood up and stretched. Grissom reached out and pulled her into him. She rested her cheek on his chest, listening to his heart beat for a few moments. Grissom simply rested his head on top of hers. He loved quiet moments like this, moments where she was wrapped in his arms, their love felt tangible. He could feel and touch love while she was in his embrace.

"I love you bean" He whispered.

Sara laughed and reached up to kiss him. She had earned that nickname the week she'd moved in with him. He had watched as she unpacked her groceries, every other item had been a bean of some sort or another. He warned her, she was what she ate, and soon she would be a bean. After that day, the name just stuck. She loved hearing him call her that, she had never pegged him as the nickname giving type, but the fact that he had a nickname for her made her feel special.

"I love you too bug-man" She laughed as he reached down to kiss her again.

They climbed into Grissom's car and Sara turned the radio on, reached out to hold Grissom's hand, and stared out the window, watching the world go by.

"Sara?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you were ok." Grissom said, a worried look across his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" He asked as they pulled into the diner's parking lot.

"Yeah, just day dreaming I guess" She smiled and reached over, her hand behind his head, she pulled him in for a deep kiss.

"Mmmm I love you." He smiled.

Sara's face fell.

"Sara? Are you ok?" He asked, his eyes searching her face.

"Ji...Jim" She sputtered

"What?"

She pointed out his window. "JIM!"

Grissom turned to see Brass standing outside the diner, his arms at his sides, his face dumbstruck.

"Shit" Grissom whispered.

Jim gave a little wave.


	6. Chapter 6 Breakfast with Brass

**A/N** - this chapter was done, but not typed up, my little sister had surgery, so I haven't had a chance to get this up! But on a good note, I am Vegas bound this winter!! What are the odds they will be filming in Vegas when I'm there? Lol.

* * *

Grissom stared at his long time colleague across the diner table. Sara was trying to avoid eye contact at all costs; she silently stared into her cup of green tea.

"Well I didn't expect to see that." Jim laughed, finally breaking the ice.

"Well, we didn't expect to see anyone we knew here." Grissom said.

"I gathered." Jim smiled as he took a sip of his coffee.

Grissom reached over, under the table, and gave Sara's knee a soft squeeze. She bit her lip and looked up at Brass.

"Two years." She said, barely audible.

"What was that?" Brass leaned in.

"She said 'two years'; we've been seeing each other for a little over two years." Grissom stated matter of factly.

"Seriously?" Brass sat up straight. "So this is... serious?"

"Yeah, it's serious." Grissom told him.

"Wow... I mean, WOW. I didn't expect... WOW!" He stammered.

"Look, Jim, you understand why we haven't..." Grissom started.

"Told anyone? Yeah I understand. I won't tell a soul, you're secret is safe with me." He smiled. "As long as I get some info here, if I'm keeping a secret this _monumental_, I want to know some details."

Grissom laughed quietly, Sara looked as though she might lose her breakfast before she even had a chance to eat it.

"Are you ok Sara?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, it's just; I mean we tried to be careful. We were just getting too confident" She whispered.

"If you two are serious and love each other, you shouldn't have any shame Sara." Brass told her in a serious tone.

Sara sat up straight and adjusted herself in her seat.

"I know, I am not ashamed... we just needed to be more careful. If this were to get back to Ecklie... I just,I just, I like my job here, and I don't want to lose it." Sara sighed.

"I understand." Brass smiled as the waitress set their food down. "Just be thankful I saw you, and it wasn't Catherine."

"Oh God." Sara grunted.

Grissom laughed. "She would have lost it"

Sara finally allowed herself to smile. "That would have been _BAD_"

"So how serious is _serious_?" Brass questioned as he started munching on toast.

"We live together." Sara said flatly, stirring her tea.

"We have a dog." Grissom smiled as he scooped up his eggs.

"Ok, so _very_ serious." Brass laughed.

"I guess it is" Grissom smiled as he reached over and squeezed Sara's hand. She flashed a sly smile back at him.

"Oh God, you guys aren't... _married_ are you??" Brass asked, a little alarmed.

"NO!" Sara and Grissom nearly yelled in unison.

"Oh thank God! I thought maybe you pulled a Warrick on me!" Brass laughed.

"Oh no, that would be too risky." Sara said.

"We're happy as is." Grissom smiled.

"So, how the hell have you kept this a secret so long?" Brass questioned.

"We are just very careful. We take our own cars to work, we take different routes. We don't arrive or leave together at the lab unless it is case related." Sara told him.

"We shop in Henderson; we pull into the garage and shut the door before we get out. We walk the dog in the morning, before the sun comes out..." Grissom added.

"Wow, if you were my neighbors I'd think you were in witness protection!" Jim laughed. "You run a tight ship there... do you really go all the way into Henderson to shop?"

"Sometimes we go as far as Boulder City or we'll go to Pahrump. We go on our day off; we make an entire day of it." Grissom smiled as he waived the waitress over for more coffee.

"You'd have to! I cannot believe you go to Boulder City to shop!" Brass was clearly surprised by the lengths the pair had gone to, to hide their relationship.

"We have our routine now, it works." Sara said. "Well, it worked..."

"You know I rarely come here, this was just coincidence." Jim smiled.

"I know. I just wished you hadn't seen me making out with Grissom." Sara shook her head.

Brass let out a belly laugh. "You could have knocked me over with a feather at that moment... when I realized who you were, I nearly fainted!"

Sara laughed. "I was just as shocked to see you!"

"She was! She could barely speak!" Grissom laughed, choking on his coffee a bit.

Brass smiled as he looked at the pair exchanges glances across the table." You know, you guys are fun outside of work." He laughed.

* * *

Sara shook her head as they pulled into the garage. It had been a silent ride home.

"It's ok Sara. Jim is a man of his word. If he said he'd keep our secret, he _will_ keep it." Grissom reached over and stroked her hair.

"I know... "She let out a heavy sigh."But what if it had been Catherine? I don't think that would be a secret _she_ could keep."

"Well then we will just have to be thankful it was Jim, not Catherine" Grissom smiled as they came into the house."

"We have to be more careful." Sara decided out loud.

"Sara, we are careful. But we _do_ live together; we do go out and do things together. What are you proposing? We act like a couple inside the confines of these four walls, but once we leave the house we act as though the other doesn't exist?"

Sara sighed softly; she knew Grissom was right, though she wasn't going to admit it.

"We just can't have Catherine, or Nick, or Greg, or anyone else finding out. I am being cautious because we could both lose our jobs Gil. This is serious."

Grissom reached down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Coming to bed?" He asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah" She sighed as she took his hand and headed up the stairs.


	7. Chapter 7 Dizzy

A/N - Ok I have had too much going on...I am vowing to finish this darn story before the season primiere (Have you seen the previews?? OMG)

I love reviews as I add chapters!

* * *

Sara started to wake that afternoon and reached out to grab an arm, only to find empty space. She was instantly awake and sat up to look at the clock. 

4pm.

"Gil?' She called out in a croaky voice. Instantly her throat hurt, so she stood up to get a drink of water. Her world went spinning and she tumbled to the ground with a thud.

Sara was on the floor staring at the bed side table wondering what the hell happened when she heard the door open and close downstairs. The tapping of nails up the stairs told her Gil had taken the dog for a walk.

"GIL!" She croaked as loudly as she could. Bruno covered her face in slobbery dog kisses as she heard footsteps thundering up the stairs.

"Sara!" Gil hit his knees and took her face into his hands.

"Please help me up, I'm dizzy" Sara sputtered as she started pulling herself up by grabbing his shoulders.

"Oh Sara, honey, what happened?" He asked as he helped her up and back to the bed.

"I woke up alone, called for you and my throat hurt, so I went to get a glass of water."

"How did you end up on the floor honey?" Gil asked as he lay down next to her in the bed.

"I stood up, and my head started to spin and I just went down" She whispered as he softly traced his fingers along the side of her face.

"Call in sweetheart" He whispered as he studied her face.

"I'll be fine." She smiled as she sat up and pulled her knees into her chest.

"Please call in, what if this happens at the lab? Everyone will make a big fuss and be worried."

Sara knew he was right and didn't want her co-workers fussing about her and her health. Staying home was the lesser of the two evils.

"Give me a phone." She smiled.

After she made her phone call, Gil presented Sara with a tray of oatmeal and apple juice.

"Gil! You didn't have to!" She smiled as she stirred some honey into her oatmeal.

"I wanted to, I want you better..."His voice drifted off as he watched her delight in the tray he had brought.

"What's the matter?" Sara dropped her spoon when she saw the worry in his eyes.

"Perhaps I should call in too, what if you fall again and I'm not here?" He questions.

Sara waved her hands above her head. "Absolutely not! It's bad enough Jim knows what he knows, you need to go into work tonight, I will be ok. I'll stay in this bed all night, I swear! Go into work!"

"Sara calm down sweetheart, I'll go in ok?"

"Ok." She whispered as she stirred her oatmeal softly.

"We still have a few hours, how about a movie?" He smiled as he slid into bed next to her.

* * *

"Ok guys, assignments!" Grissom announced as he came into the break room.

"Nick and Greg, we're heading out to the zoo. Cath and Warrick, B&E in Henderson."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yes Catherine, seriously." Grissom smiled as he slid her the case notes.

"Hey where is Sara?" Greg asked, realizing they were minus a CSI.

"She called in sick." Grissom said matter of factly.

"Sara?" Warrick questioned.

"Sick?" Nick looked confused.

"Should I call? Is she ok?" Catherine asked, obviously very worried about her co-worker.

"No, I spoke with her a few moments ago; she believes she has the flu and her head is spinning, so she decided it safer to stay home. We've got work to do, let's head out" Grissom said, he was only half lying, he didn't know what was wrong with Sara, but was sure she would be on his mind all shift long.

* * *

"Sara!" Gil called out as he walked in the door. There was no answer and he rushed up the stairs. "SARA!" He yelled as he came to the top landing. He walked into the bedroom and found Sara sound asleep.

After a shower Gil slipped into bed next to Sara and watched her sleep for a few moments.

"Mmmmm, Gil?" She croaked as she opened her eyes a little.

"Hi Bean"

"Any new news on the ape case?"

"Yes, the fir patch was Barbary ape, and we found more in the freezer in the primate house. Its up to PD to find Mr. Thule now."

"Why would he kill his own apes?" Sara questioned as she moved closer to Gil

"We don't know that is what happened; we need to talk to Mr. Thule."

"Was..."

"Sara, I left work_ at_ work" He smiled

"Ok." She whispered.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" he asked as he studied her face, she was pale but her cheeks were fire red.

"I feel pretty horrid." She admitted as she snuggled into his arm, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her softly.

"You don't look good. Maybe we should see about getting you to a doctor."

"Oh Gil please, it'll be fine, let me ride it out." She pouted at him.

"Pouting is cheating!" He laughed.

"You cannot resist the Sidle pout!" Sara laughed as she stuck her bottom lip out as far as it would go.

"Cheating. Out and out CHEATING!!" Gil pulled her in to him and hugged her as hard as he could without hurting her. He planted a kiss on her forehead.

Just then Grissom's phone vibrated across the table. He sighed and answered.

"Grissom"

"Gil, PD found Mr. Thule just outside of Pahrump. They're hauling him in now"

"Ok Jim, I'm on my way." Gil sighed as he clicked his phone shut.

"Sorry Sara, PD found Mr. Thule, I have to go in."

Sara nodded and gave the biggest pout she could muster up.

"Stop that!" Gil shouted over his shoulder as he headed off to get dressed.


	8. Chapter 8 Truth

A/N - Ok one more chapter to go, I will try and have that out monday, I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Reviews are always appreciated!

* * *

Grissom pulled into the parking lot and wiped his tired eyes. He hadn't slept much the day before, he would wake up and roll over and stare at Sara. Sara had never been really sick in the two years they'd been together and he was legitimately worried about her. As he stared at her sleeping he thought about how much he had come to love her, and how that scared him. Grissom wiped his eyes again and slipped his glasses back on and headed into PD.

"Hello Mr. Thule." Grissom greeted the pale looking man sitting at the cold metal table.

"Hello."

"Care to tell us what really happened in that zoo?" Brass chimed in, eager to get the man talking.

"I've given my statement to you already." Mr. Thule answered, never looking up.

"Franklin, we found primate fur in the lion's enclosure, and in your _personal _refrigerator. We know whatever happened to those monkeys happened inside that zoo." Grissom said matter of factly, laying out pictures of the evidence for the man to see.

"Cooperation always goes over well with the D.A." Brass added.

Franklin Thule squirmed in his seat, he looked up at the two men sitting across from him as tears formed in his eyes.

"Lucy killed David!" He sputtered, now heaving from his sobs.

Grissom and Brass stared at the sobbing man, obviously confused by the man's sudden statement.

"Excuse me?" Brass finally spoke up.

"Lucy, she killed him! It was my fault; I knew I shouldn't give them anything sharp! They're like children for God's sake!!!"

"Lucy killed David with the dart?" Grissom questioned.

"I stay late some days, and I had a dart board in my locker. I just wanted to teach them how to play!!" Mr. Thule was feverishly wiping the tears from his face.

"Ok, let me get this straight. So you're telling me that you were trying to teach the _monkeys_ how to play darts, and one killed the other?"

"YES!" Franklin exclaimed as he readily accepted a tissue from Grissom.

"But what happened to Lucy?" Grissom asked.

"I ran in and tried to save David, but it was too late, I got angry and I started screaming at her, and she ran towards me..."

"AND?" Brass was growing impatient.

"And I kicked her."

"You kicked her?" Grissom asked.

"I kicked her. She hit her head on the bars, and then ...She just laid there"

"So then you made it look like a theft, and froze the bodies, and fed them to the lions?" Brass asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"I panicked! I put them in the garbage bag and stuck them in the fridge. I went to the enclosure and broke the glass, and then I left."

"And then you came BACK to feed them to the lions?" Brass asked, still confused by the man's story.

"After I saw you guys investigating the way you did, I knew I had to do something. I thought they'd send a cop or two to take statements, I never expected CSI to pull out all the stops!" Mr. Thule stopped and looked up at Grissom, his eyes red from tears. "They were already dead. I figured you guys would think they got out and somehow made it in with the lions..."

Grissom stood up and motioned for the deputy in the corner to arrest Mr. Thule.

Mr. Thule sighed and bowed his head. "The truth will set you free" He scoffed.

"Not in this case." Brass quipped as he rose to open the door for the deputy. "In this case, the truth sends you to lock up"

Grissom stood and wiped his eyes again, more than ready to go home and finally get some sleep.

"Tired Gil?" Brass questioned as he watched Grissom stretch a little.

"Yeah." He glanced around the room and moved closer to Jim. "Sara is sick, I didn't sleep much."

Brass gave Grissom a pat on the back as they exited the room. "Tell her to feel better." He smiled as they parted ways and Grissom headed for the parking lot.

* * *

Grissom crawled in bed, careful not to wake Sara. Her face was not as pale and the redness in her cheeks had gone down. He watched her as she slept, remembering Jim's words and smile. He was almost _glad_ someone else knew about their relationship, it made it seem more real; like they were actually a couple.

He moved the hair out of Sara's face and softly kissed her cheek before rolling over for some much needed sleep. He sighed and shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9 Love

A/N Ok so I lied and finished it up! I CANNOT wait until next thurday!!!!! I love reviews, they help me in my writing!!

* * *

Grissom woke up that evening and rolled over. Sara wasn't there. He pulled himself to the edge of the bed to look for Sara on the floor; all he saw was a pair of slippers.

"Sara?"

"Gil?"

Grissom followed the voice into the bathroom, where he found Sara sitting against the vanity, looking sicker than ever.

"I feel horrible. She muttered, tears forming in her eyes.

Grissom walked over to the tub and starting filling it with cool water. He helped Sara out of her pajamas and walked her over to the tub and helped her get in. Sara sighed as the cool water poured over her body, and she laid her head on the bath pillow.

Grissom knelt down next to the tub and swirled his hand in the water.

"Is this ok? Need it warmer or colder?" He asked softly.

"This is perfect Gil, thank you." She smiled.

Grissom scooped some water in his hands and poured it in her hair. Sara closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

"Did you get more sleep today?" She asked as water drops slid down her hot cheeks.

"Yeah, I feel pretty ok." Gil smiled as he reached for the wash cloth hanging on the rack next to the tub.

"Good." Sara smiled.

Grissom wet the wash cloth and laid the cool cloth on Sara's forehead. He ran his wet fingers along her arms and collarbone, playing a game of connect the invisible dots.

"I love you Sar, you know that right?"

Sara opened her eyes and reached out her hand to grab his. "Of course I know, and I love you too."

"I know I have trouble showing it at times" He admitted.

"You're doing a really good job of it right now." Sara smiled.

"I have to tell you, it scares me a little."

"Why?"

"I suppose become it leaves me vulnerable to being hurt."

Sara looked at him with sympathetic eyes, she knew what he meant.

"But with you, the risk is worth it; and now, it doesn't even feel like a risk."

"It isn't a risk, I am not going anywhere" Sara said.

"I know, and I love the life we've built, and I love _loving_ you."

"I think its ok that Jim knows." Sara said, seeing where he was headed.

Grissom smiled, he loved that she knew him so well now. "I think so too, he told me to tell you to feel better this morning. Having someone knows feels like a relief, like are an _actual_ couple."

"You didn't feel that before?" Sara asked.

"I did, but I didn't... it feels _real_ now."

Sara simply nodded and closed her eyes.

Grissom went back to pouring the cool water over her hot skin, happy to have Sara and to be sharing a moment like this with her.

"But we are _NOT_ telling Catherine." Sara muttered.

All Grissom could do was laugh.

* * *

_FIN_


End file.
